Our Approach
Gretchen Meyer Financial starts with you. What do you want? How can we help you work toward your goals? If we were to take out a magic wand and ask you to think of everything you desired, what would those things be? Do you want a new house? Are you dreaming of a big wedding? Do you want to create a college savings plan for your child? How about a vacation twice a year? Maybe you simply want to have a carefree retirement. Of course, all of these are wonderful goals; they just take money, and careful planning, to work toward.
After we’ve listed your goals, we create a personal income plan. We need to find the money to work toward your goals. How do we do that? By reviewing where you spend your money and building savings into your budget. You’ve probably heard the term, “Pay yourself first,” right? Well, it’s true. Together, we will find ways to save in order to ensure you are on track to pursue your goals. Being on track and working toward your goals is fine, but actually pursuing those goals is our wish for you. Therefore, once we’ve created the personal income plan, we will develop your personal three-bucket investment strategy. Some financial planners call this “building a portfolio,” but we prefer to leave the fancy financial lingo at the door. In this third and final step toward creating your comprehensive financial plan, we are basically categorizing your goals into short-, mid- and long-term buckets so that we can recommend how to invest your money and where. We will assess your risk tolerance to determine an ideal investment strategy just for you, and then we will help complete all the paperwork to help you get started.
Our investment philosophy is built on the following principles:
- Having clear and realistic expectations
- Matching your personal values with appropriate investment options
- Finding tax efficiencies while minimizing expenses
- Strategic diversification
Financial planning is an ongoing process. Your goals change, don’t they? So, your financial plan needs to evolve with it. That’s why it’s critical to establish a relationship with your planner that is akin to a close friendship. Someone you can trust. We are here for you when you are ready to get started. We want you to achieve those life goals!